The best pro-style chef knives

This article was taken from the March 2016 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content bysubscribing online.

With the help of chef Richard Bainbridge -- known for his Norwich restaurant Benedicts and appearances on BBC Two's Great British Menu -- WIRED put two slick chef knives to the test.

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We timed how long it took Bainbridge to fillet a 130g fish, slice a medium-sized onion and chop 100g of fresh parsley. Each knife was then assessed on comfort, design and sharpness before being given a WIRED score out of ten.

Tsuki Japanese Chef's Knife

About 5mm larger than the Damascus, the Tsuki has a Japanese VG-10 stainless-steel core. Bainbridge favoured its comfortable grip out of the two knives tested. "It increases the feeling of control over the knife," he says. It also performs well when filleting, which he attributes to the blade width. 9/10 £60

Size 20.5cm Time to fillet fish 9 seconds Time to slice onion 28 seconds Time to chop parsley 4 minutes

Damascus 20cm Chef's Knife

The Damascus' curvaceous body makes for a sophisticated design, with a riveted handle and folded steel in the blade that Bainbridge describes as "amazing". Even though the onion slicing took longer using this knife, our tester was still impressed with the results: "This was better for slicing an onion, due to the blade's width and good rock." 8/10£75

Size 20cm Time to fillet fish 9 seconds Time to slice onion 37 seconds Time to chop parsley 5 minutes

This article was first published in the March 2016 issue of WIRED magazine